Frankenmuth’s Dark Horse Candidate

Redford set sights on Mr. Basketball

By Gavin Raath

9 December 2007

greatlakeshoops.com

If the first week of the season is Mr. Basketball’s Iowa Caucus, then Brad Redford should be the frontrunner.

Against one of the state’s perennial powers in Flint Southwestern, the rangy 6’0” senior dropped 47 points, including eleven three-pointers, sinking the Knights by double-digits. He then followed that performance up with a paltry 39 points against crosstown rival Bridgeport.

I doubt that many seriously considered Redford for Mr. Basketball this season. He’s always been considered a tier below the Draymond Greens, Anthony Craters, and Paul Williams of the 2008 class. Those considerations are officially dead.

There’s never been much doubt about Redford’s talent. His freshman year, he was a true point guard whose sole responsibility was to get the ball to the talented List twins, and to be ready for the kick-out. His sophomore year, the young Eagle was far more ready than opponents would have liked. In his opening game against Bridgeport, he quickly went from third option to first with 27 points.

At that game there were several scouts from various NCAA programs that came to see the Lists, but walked away talking about Redford. Some left dejected knowing that his game was beyond their program’s level.

That summer, Redford went from being the top kick-out guy in the state, to arguably the top in the nation after winning the national three-point shootout in Las Vegas at one of the biggest AAU tournaments in the country.

I can recall being at the Michigan Mustangs camp just before his junior season when Carman Ainsworth’s resident stopper, Ahmad Cheers, was instructed to defend Redford as soon as he crossed half-court. After a bomb that was at least five feet from beyond the arc, he quickly found out why.

It was clear that Brad was headed for a big junior year with a veteran squad and a great opening game performance against Anthony Crater and SWA, but injuries and illnesses kept Redford from reaching his potential. His approval rating polls dropped.

Fortunately for Redford, he didn’t fall in the eyes of division one colleges. He had several top programs seeking his services at point guard, finally settling on Atlantic Ten power Xavier as former McDonald’s All American Drew Lavender’s [left] heir apparent.

That leads me to today.

I’m not certain if it’s reasonable to assume that Redford can maintain his 43-points per game average, but if gets anywhere close to that, he should be a lock.

What some may not know is that Redford, at a staggering 6’0”, making him the tallest starter at Frankenmuth, is putting up these numbers against box-and-ones and double teams. There is not another player in the state that could put on these kinds of performances, and will his team to victory, while facing such odds.

Redford’s resiliency is testament to his skill. He’s not 6’6”, he’s not blessed with a 40” vertical or cat-quick reflexes. What he is, plain and simply, is skilled. Pound-for-pound there is not a player that can match him state-wide.

There’s a lot of campaigning to be done between now and February, but this dark horse’s early poll numbers look great.